Mendelssohn’s final concerto. His heart’s last jewel.

Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor was a success from its premiere, despite features that would have made it quite unconventional in its day. Instead of a full orchestral introduction before the entrance of the soloist, the violinist jumps in almost immediately. The first movement cadenza, which typically occurred between the recapitulation and the final coda and was left to the soloist to create, was fully composed and inserted in the middle of the movement. All three movements are played without pause, depriving an audience accustomed to applauding between movements of any chance to do so until the final chord of the piece. Mendelssohn wrote the concerto for violinist Ferdinand David, a close friend since the two were teenagers. One of David’s acclaimed students, Joseph Joachim, later said “The Germans have four violin concertos. The greatest, most uncompromising is Beethoven’s. The one by Brahms vies with it in seriousness. The richest, the most seductive, was written by Max Bruch. But the most inward, the heart’s jewel, is Mendelssohn’s.”

PROGRAM
FELIX MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto in E minor, Op 64 (26’)
Allegro molto appassionato -
Andante -
Allegro non troppo - Allegro molto vivace

MUSICIANS
Conductor Eivind Aadland
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra

Federation Concert Hall, Nipaluna / Hobart